STORRS—History is taking center stage for the University of Connecticut softball team this spring.
The Huskies are celebrating the program’s 50th anniversary and hope to cap things off with a Big East title when the season is completed.
“There are less than 10 softball programs that have been around for 50 years, so we have a lot to be grateful for,” UConn coach Laura Valentino said. “We’re playing this year with a special motive, thanking all the people who came before us.”
The 49th edition of the UConn Huskies went 31-24 last season and this year’s returning Huskies unit were picked second in the Big East Preseason Coaches Poll.
The Huskies opened the season on Friday, dropping an 18-12 slugfest to Ohio University in the opener before bouncing back to beat Elon 8-2.
On Saturday was another defeat to UNC-Wilmington.
“For this upcoming season, we lost some pitchers on the mound; we lost Jana Sanden, she played shortstop; but what holds is my expectations for us to compete for a conference championship,” Valentino said.
Hallie Siems, who threw a team-high 138.2 innings a year ago, and Meghan O’Neil, who saw a team-high 41 appearances in the circle, have both graduated as did another pitcher.
Still, an influx of new arms has the UConn coach impressed.
“I’m excited about our pitching staff,” she said.
Payton Kinney (12-5, 2.33 ERA, 113 Ks in 99 innings) is a fifth-year graduate student and has the most experience returning.
“She’s back for a fifth year,” Valentino said. “She wants to leave UConnn in a better place than she found it and she’s driven to win a championship.”
Junior Hope Jenkins (2-1, 3.26 ERA in 18 games a yaer ago) is also back as is redshirt sophomore Sydnee Koosh, a transfer from Robert Morris who missed much of last season with the Huskies due to an injury. Koosh has UConn’s lone win so far this season.
Freshmen Stella Kiemele and Amber Bretton round out the staff.
Valentino also expects the Huskies offense to be a strength.
Five of the team’s top six hitters from a year ago return, including lead-off hitter Lexi Hastings, who hit .392 a year ago with six home runs and 22 RBIs. She is the Big East’s defending Player of the Year.
The Huskies, led by Rosie Garcia’s 10 dingers, had 40 home runs in 55 games a year ago.
“From and X’s and O’s standpoint, we’ll be strong offensively this year,” Valentino said. “It’s part of our culture. We’re always in the batting cages.”
Behind the plate, Grace Jenkins (7 HR, team-high 40 RBIs) is a second-team all-conference player who is back. She will handle the crux of the backstop duties while sophomore Sarah Blaskiewicz and freshman Heidi Barber provide depth.
In the infield, the biggest question mark is replacing Sanden, a Connecticut kid out of Northwest Regional, at shortstop.
“Actually, we’re going to mix it up the first couple of weeks to figure it out,” Valentino said. “There is a lot of competition for positions in the infield right now, which is a good problem to have.”
Caylee DeMeo and Cat Petteys split duties are short over UConn’s first two games.
Garcia will also be a key cog in the field along with Kaiea Higa, a junior transfer from Oregon State.
In the outfield, Kaitlyn Kibling will be in center field as Valentino has called the New York-native “a top two center field I’ve ever coached in my career.”
Hastings, Kaitlyn Breslin and Rayah Snyder, who hails from Glastonbury, will see corner outfield time.
Valentino hopes as the season goes on her Huskies come together again as they chase the Big East championship.
The Huskies won the league’s regular season crown in 2022 and 23, but have not won a Big East tournament since 2001.
“I would say from my standpoint, I’m hungry for us to be first,” Valentino said. “That’s what I came here to do, to be at the top of the conference in five years. I think we can do it. We’re locked in on this.”
And its 50th season the Huskies plan on chasing that goal aggressively.
“Our motto this year is to move the needle,” Valentino said. “We want to be competitive from first inning to last out of the seventh, to keep our foot on the gas pedal whether we’re winning, losing or tied. That’s the focus this year.”
Leave a Reply